Computer Repair Software - What to Look for Before Purchasing

Author: Jason Bell
Computer repair software utilities are an important part of any PC maintenance toolkit because they are needed to maintain a healthy and error-free system registry.

The registry is a centralized, hierarchal database comprising several keys, subkeys and there values that store configuration data related to your system, users preferences and hardware and software installed on the system. The registry is a dynamic component in which constantly data is added, removed or modified as you work on your computer.

Over a period, in addition to important configuration information, the registry also gets filled up with a bunch of unwanted data including outdated, invalid, malicious, and orphan entries. As your system gets older, this unwanted data increases in the registry, causing it to grow very large size. A large registry easily becomes unstable and causes registry corruption and fragmentation. This damaged registry slows down, bringing down the performance of your PC and also causes frequents system errors, freezes, and crashes.

To prevent these problems and maintain a healthy registry, it is recommended that you seek the help of known and trust worthy computer repair software.

If you perform a search for registry tool on the Web, you will find several results. However, instead of going in for just any tool that is not the correct way to go about this. A dubious tool may put you deeper into problems, instead of helping you resolve them.

Given here are a few important tips to help you choose the right registry repair utility. The registry cleaner you choose should:

Be User Friendly -- The tool you select should have an easy-to-understand interface with user-friendly features. This becomes more important, especially if you are not very good with the technical aspect of computing.

Have Easy To Understand Comprehensive Documentation -- You must ensure that the tool you choose is comprised of comprehensive help documentation and ensures product support in case of a problem.

Use Smart Algorithms to Scan and Repair Registry Errors -- You may find several tools claiming to find hundreds of errors from your registry. Although these claims may look quite impressive, many such tools report any registry entry that is unknown to them as error. Many times, removing this information may cause problems with programs currently running on your computer. For this reason, you must opt for tools that use smart algorithms to scan you registry, identify the errors, analyze them, and then report only genuine errors. It's best that you opt for a tool that categorically reports the errors as what is safe to delete and what is not safe to delete. Additionally, it is a good idea to opt for tools that perform both automatic and manual clean up features.

Advanced Registry Backup Features -- The tool must have sufficient and easy-to-use backup and restoration features. Basically, comprisingfull backup, selective backup and undo features. The tool must enable the ability to revert the registry to its state before the scan.

Have Registry Defrag Features -- Defragging the registry is important because it helps in compressing the registry size and reindexing the broken registry files. After you defragment the registry the data access speed increases considerably and this, enhances the performance of your computer.

Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com

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Which is the Best Anti Virus Program Now?

Author: Sunil Saripalli

Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro are the Big 3 in the Antivirus Industry. They have several products which deliver.

In my 10 years of computer experience, in which i sold more than 200 computers, installed more than 1000 Computers and trouble shooted countless computers, i always feel that what ever the antivirus it should have the Latest Definitions to provide effective protection. It’s hard to clean a file which is infected with virus, so you should make sure that the virus doesn’t enter your system in the first place. For this you need to install the antivirus with the current definition files before connecting to the internet or opening any CD which you bought from your friend.

Norton is very slow, i have heard this from majority of my customers, but they should understand it depends on which version of Norton you are using. People generally use Norton Internet Security which is basically just not an Antivirus, but firewall, IDS, Antivirus and Anti spam in one application.

So when you compare running the above against AVG Antivirus which is a Virus only scanner your system would be definitely slow. But you should also take into account the protection if offers.

My first choice would be Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition 10 if you want a Virus and Spyware solution and Norton Internet Security if you want all in one solution. But remember Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro charge for subscription to get the updates.

I have used AVG in some cases and would give a 5 Star rating for its abilities.

If you want to pay for your Antivirus go with Symantec or McAfee. Free would be definitely AVG. If your system is infected with Virus and won’t allow the existing Antivirus to run a scan and won’t allow installation of New Antivirus you can use McAfee Stinger.

It’s a single exe file which would run and clean the Viruses. You can copy the EXE file to a boot CD and run the Application booting of the CD and running. This would allow the EXE to run and clean viruses without loading the Windows file system and hence effective cleaning.

Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com

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Data Recovery from Recordable and Re-writable CD's

By: Alex Rider

The world of computer data storage media certainly has moved on since the old days of 8 or 5.25-inch floppy disks. Modern and far more reliable recordable and re-writable CD's have virtually completely replaced the floppy disk. Unfortunately problems do still exist, which can cause data to be corrupted and lost.

When disaster strikes and you find you've got a data loss issue with one of your recordable/ re-writable CD's there are a number of simple troubleshooting moves you can make to try to get that all important data back.

First of all, make sure you know the disc in question is a CD and not a fairly similar looking DVD disc. It follows that you should ensure the disc drive on your computer is designed for CD's and not DVD's. CD players don't function properly with DVDs, but, some DVD players can read CD's.

Next you should try and make the CD as clean as possible using an air canister or, lint-free cloth or wiper. The best cleaning hand motions are from the centre of the disk out to the disc edge. Don't move the wiper in a circular motion. A small quantity of distilled water can help very tough marks to come off. Removing marks such as dirty fingerprints or felt tip pen ink will improve the discs readability.

Ensure the cabling connecting the computer to the drive is snug and secure. Cables are actually able to move out of their sockets with repeated shutdowns or startups due to associated expansion and contraction cycles. Screwing or clipping the cable to the drive can help reduce this problem.

Try re-recording the data onto a CD-R, if it was originally stored on a rewritable CD. This is useful in that CD-R's are often more easily read by CD drives since they have improved physical recording processes. If the CD drive is old then the opposite may be true, in this case place a rewritable CD in the old drive, older CD drives will have more of a chance of reading this type of disk.

The computer BIOS needs to be looked at to ensure it is not corrupted. The BIOS can be found upon the initial boot-up process of the computer, usually by pushing a specific key, e.g. F1. Once in the BIOS the CD drive should be listed in the boot-up sequence. When booting up the computer, the CD drive should be listed in the right place, typically second within the drive sequence.

The driver(s) can be reinstalled by their careful removal from the 'device manager list'. After this reboot the system and wait for Windows to install the driver automatically. Upon following this many small problems can be ironed out. If problems still persist you can remove the CD drive from the registry, then using the windows 'device manager' you can reinstall it.

If after having tried these basic methods of countering a data issue on your CD with no positive results you will most likely have to travel to a specialist data recovery expert. Specialists have an array of equipment and procedures that will more often than not yield good results fast.

Source:
http://www.articlecompilation.com

Do you need help with DVD data recovery , why not visit www.easydatarecovery.info/DVD-Data-Recovery-Software-Programs.php for more information.

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USB Flash Drives are Great for Rapid Instant Storage

By: Alex Rider

These are tiny portable storage devices that are known by the other terms like 'memory stick'. USB drives such as these are created by a whole host of brands such as Mini Cruzer, Lexar and Memorex, to name but a few. Computers that are less than 8 years old, or those that have a USB port work with USB flash drive technology. Prices of these drives have gone down significantly now with some models of around 1GB of space costing under $100.

The most frequent use of USB flash drives is for transferring data from work to home computers, negating the old requirement to ferry a laptop to and fro.

Flash drives are not as new a technology as you may think. These drives started back in 1963 as a new concept, and beginning production in 1968 as integrated circuit chips known as 'Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor's' (CMOS). These chips soon became standard in the vast majority of electric devices available. CMOS chips managed a computers basic system settings, rather like the 'Basic Input/ Output System's' (BIOS) of today.

Flash memory is a type of non-volatile computer memory that is able to undergo electronic erasing and reprogramming. In opposition to 'Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory' (EEPROM), typical of general PC memory, this flash drive memory is able to be erased or programmed in various blocks made up of numerous locations.

These devices are highly durable, computers don't need to be shut down when they're removed, and there are no moving parts ('solid-state'). Due to their very small size, around the size of a lighter, the biggest problem encountered is that of simply misplacing it. Many come with attached cords from which you can hang them around your neck or attach them to things e.g. your wallet.

What is important to know is that these devices have a limited lifespan. Only a certain number of write cycles are possible, depending upon the manufacturer and/ or model. As such these drives should generally not be used as an extra document folder with documents being saved frequently, e.g. every 5 minutes, for long periods of time. High levels of re-writing i.e. saving data tend to rapidly wear out the flash drive's memory.

To stop people stealing your USB flash device and retrieving potentially important and/ or secret information getting USB flash drive stored information encrypted through a manufacturers recommended encryption service is a great idea.

With this kind of storage device data recovery is typically possible, especially if there is no physical damage. Recovery can be performed on your USB flash drive far from various recovery experts' offices simply by them accessing it through an internet connection in your PC.

Source:
http://www.articlecompilation.com

Did you know that lightning can cause computer damage promoting the need for data file loss recovery. For more information go to www.easydatarecovery.info/Lightning-Season-How-To-Avoid-Data-Loss.php .

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Computer Backup and Recovery Strategies for Home Users

By: Keith Scott

With technology today, you have a variety of options of backing up your data. In this article, I will cover many of the options that are local to your computer. Before you begin, you need to create an inventory of your data the locations and size of all your data. Please note: The tips/advice here are for backing up user/data files and not for backing up system/Windows files. As you read through this information, you will notice that much of this is "old school" back-up processes. I have used Windows XP backup but I prefer writing my own batch files and creating my own process as I believe this is cleaner for what I need. For example, in Windows XP backup, when you create a backup of several files, Windows XP backup, backs them up all into a single file. My method simply copies the files to another location, file by file, which means you are not later dependant on any Windows software for restores. Now, please know, that the Windows XP backup utilities are full of cool features, it is just I prefer to have more control over what I am backing up.

You are now ready to backup where data? But wait, my data is spread out all over my hard drive. Is there an easy way? Yes, there is. My method may not be the best way, or most slick method, but it works for me and has saved me many times. I write a batch file using the old dos command (xcopy) and copy my data from all the different locations on my hard drive into one central location. I can then save this folder to CD/DVD/etc. To improve speed, I use the command line options to copy only new files or files that have changed. The batch file has several lines like this

xcopy c:\pictures\*.* d:\backup\pictures\ /e/s/h/c/d
xcopy c:\mydata\*.* d:\backup\data\ /e/s/h/c/d
xcopy c:\mydocu~1\*.* d:\backup\data\ /e/s/h/c/d
etc

I now have all the data I need in one main folder

With that in mind, here are your options:

Saving Data to Floppy - I feel silly even mentioning this option, but it is still an option if you need to back up a few very small files and bring them with you somewhere. Please note, most computers today do not even come with floppy drives making this option all but obsolete.

Saving to a Zip Disk - A Zip Disk is much like a supercharged floppy or external hard drive. It is just another form of media that you can use to store data. While quick and simple, in order to restore to another computer, it has to have a zip drive attached, or you need to bring your actual drive with you.

Saving to a CD - Most computers today come with a CD drive that has write capabilities. What this means is you can save your data (up to about 700 Meg) to a CD. This option is more than adequate for the majority of computer users. Each CD drive has its own set of software that enables you to do this, so you will have to refer to your own manufacture/software instructions for details.

Saving to a DVD - If you have more then 700 MB of data, you may want to consider getting a writable DVD drive for your computer. While you may think of DVD's for movies, the reality is a DVD is just another form of media for storing data. The movie is nothing more than zeros and ones. The advantage of the DVD is that a DVD can store up to 4.7 Gig of data. That is considerably more than a regular CD. Of course you will need a DVD writer. Fortunately, they are not that much more expensive than a CD writer. If you are buying a new computer, you should consider the DVD burner option. Like a CD, instructions for copying data to a DVD differ by the software being used.

Saving to a USB Flash Drive - Flash drives are now at 2 gigs of data and will soon be more. A flash drive is a small device you connect into a USB port. It is somewhat like your computer memory except it does not lose data when the power goes out. These handy little devices are becoming more and more popular as a quick and easy way to get data from one computer to another and have basically replaced the floppy drive. They can be used to back up your data, but you will only have the most current backup, and of course you are limited to the data storage limits of the device.

Another Disk Drive - Got tons of data? Get another drive. My preferred method of backing up data is to another hard drive. This is perhaps a little overkill, but it works. I back up all my data (many, many gigs of data) to another hard drive in my computer. This is quick and fast. It is also rather expensive and does not solve the off-site problem, so still need to save data to DVD's. But this method allows me to incrementally backup my data at any give time, and allows me the options to create a permanent backup at a later time. The advantage was clear when I had to rebuild my computer. Once the OS was installed and patched, I simply attached my backup drive, and presto, there was ALL my data. No restores, no waiting around, it was just there. Had I had to rebuild my computer due to viruses or other issues, I may not have been able to do this because my files on my backup drive could have also been infected. So be careful when using this strategy. You can purchase external hardrives for this type of activity.

Saving to Tape - It is unlikely that you will want to save your data to tape if all you have is a personal computer or two. Tape drives are expensive and the tapes for the drives are expensive as well. Tape backup does make sense in large data centers or file servers as this method provides a good alternative to backing large amounts of data day after day. It also provides a good back tracking record as tapes are usually rotated on some sort of schedule. If you have a home business with several computers, a few file servers, and gigs and gigs of data, then a tape backup may be the thing for you.

Source:
http://www.articlecompilation.com

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LG CU720 Shine

Specifications
LG CU720 Shine

Network	2G 3G	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 HSDPA 850 / 1900
Size	Dimensions Weight Display	100 x 50.5 x 15 mm (3.94 x 1.99 x 0.59 in) 119 gram TFT, 256K colors 240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches (~182 ppi pixel density)
Memory	Phonebook Call records Internal Card slot	500 entries, Photocall 50 dialed, 50 received, 50 missed calls 50 MB microSD
Data	GPRS EDGE 3G WLAN Bluetooth Infrared port USB	Yes Yes HSPA 3.6/0.384 Mbps v1.2 with A2DP Yes
Features	OS CPU Messaging Alert Browser Radio GPS Games Camera Video Colors Java	SMS, EMS, MMS, Email Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones WAP 2.0/xHTML Stereo FM Yes 2 MP, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, autofocus, LED flash Yes Silver MIDP 2.0 - Loudspeaker - Mini-SIM - Mirror effect screen, full metal body - Downloadable wallpapers - 300 text messages - MP3/AAC+/3GP/MP4 player - Predictive text input - Organizer - Voice memo - Clock - Calendar - Alarm
Battery	Stand-by Talk time	Standard battery, Li-Ion 900 mAh Up to 250 h Up to 3 h

Image: http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_cu720_shine-pictures-2206.php

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LG KE850 Prada

Specifications
LG KE850 Prada

Network	2G 3G	GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
Size	Dimensions Weight Display	98.8 x 54 x 12 mm (3.89 x 2.13 x 0.47 in) 85 gram TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors 240 x 400 pixels, 3.0 inches (~155 ppi pixel density)
Memory	Phonebook Call records Internal Card slot	1000 entries 40 dialed, 40 received, 40 missed calls 8 MB microSD, up to 2 GB
Data	GPRS EDGE 3G WLAN Bluetooth Infrared port USB	Class 10 Yes v2.0 with A2DP 2.0
Features	OS CPU Messaging Alert Browser Radio GPS Games Camera Video Colors Java	SMS, EMS, MMS, Email Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones, composer WAP 2.0/xHTML FM radio Halloween Fever, Photo Puzzle, Virus, Pipe 2 MP, Schneider-Kreuznach optics, autofocus, LED flash @30fps Black MIDP 2.0 - Loudspeaker - Mini-SIM - Capacitive touchscreen - Flash UI - Downloadable wallpapers - MP3 player - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Organizer - Voice memo - Clock - Calendar - Alarm
Battery	Stand-by Talk time	Standard battery, Li-Ion 800 mAh Up to 300 h Up to 3 h

Image: http://www.welec

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